My House

Upon moving to Japan, I lucked out when my contracting organization procured me a full-sized traditional Japanese house.  This is not common as most ALTs (Assistant Language Teachers) usually get placed in individual apartments ranging from small studios to multi-bedroom apartments, and also ranging in style from traditional to more Western.  Usually ALTs only get houses when they're so rural, apartments don't exist.  When my supervisor and contracting organization went to set up housing in my town, however, there were no vacant apartments.  This was due to the large amount of homes that were lost to the tsunami last year, causing many families to relocate to apartments and temporary homes further inland.

I tried to make a video, but it wasn't coming out well.  The pictures came out nice, so I'll walk you through my house using these with text to give you an idea of a typical Japanese home.  These pictures crashed my wireless router, so enjoy knowing they sabotaged my wifi.  (It's funny, but not at the same time...)

I apologize for the weird formatting, I somehow messed up the smooth uploading process that puts everything in logical lines so they terraced themselves strangely.  I also have great pictures of the garden/backyard, and the view, but I'll make a separate blog for those later!

Entrance

Entrance from Outside

Shoe Deposit

All traditional homes have this style entrance where you remove and leave shoes - no shoes allowed inside!  Here's the view from the inside room:

Kerosene is also in entrance on the right.

Bedrooms with Tatami Mat Floors

My messy kotatsu table in the first of two bedrooms.  I also sleep in this room as you'll see the futon laid out here, too.  Those sliding doors separate the two bedrooms so I can close off all rooms but this one when I want to use air conditioning without cooling the whole house

My Messy Kotatsu

My futon (bed) where I usually sleep

Ceiling light in first room

Air conditioner above window, tv next to
window

<---This is the futon closet, where I fold up and put my futon during the day.  The extra blankets for winter time are underneath the futon shelf.

Futon closet with futon

First room with table and bed

Bookshelf and Mirror in next bedroom

View of backyard from second room

Kitchen

My big kitchen! Door from main room,
entrance is on the right side.

That box on floor is the root cellar.

This little box on the floor that you see me opening up here is the "root cellar."  It's a good place to store vegetables to save space in the fridge as it's stores them below the house where temperatures stay cool enough for storage.

Hallway

Couch overlooking the view

Drying Laundry goes here

View looking opposite way towards kitchen

Kitchen and Sink view from doorway in the hall

Sink, Toilet, Laundry, and Bath

Toilet is separate from sink

Hallway connecting toilet (door on right) with
laundry and bath

I have my own washer!

My bath room!

The ofuro under the window is
basically an indoor spa. The
temp controls are that digital box
above it.

Comes complete with shelves, mirror,  and a
stool to sit on while you bathe! Typically you
bathe before entering the bath on the left.